LAS CRUCES - The Las Cruces Public Schools has withdrawn its motion to prevent a strike by district bus drivers, and is now preparing for a pending strike.

The LCPS School Board on Friday did not approve a motion to allow LCPS representatives to continue litigating a possible bus drivers strike.

LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds said he was “exceedingly concerned” about the possibility of a strike.

“The reason (this litigation) was filed is because I believe the interest we all have is in ensuring students do not see interrupted service,” Rounds told the board. “We have 7,300 students who potentially will be waiting at a corner or sitting in a schoolhouse waiting for a bus that will not come.”

On March 31, Third Judicial District Court Judge James T. Martin granted LCPS a temporary restraining order that essentially prevented the union that represents bus drivers for LCPS from going on strike. Martin granted temporary relief until at least Tuesday, when he scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing in district court.

The order was granted hours before the collective bargaining agreement between the union — Las Cruces Transportation Federation Local 6341 — and STS of New Mexico, the private company contracted by LCPS to provide bus service for the district, was set to expire.

The LCPS board needed to grant school officials the authority to act legally on the district's behalf and met in closed session Friday for an hour and a half before the public meeting began. Maury Castro and Barbara Hall voted in favor of continuing litigation, while Chuck Davis and Ed Frank voted against approving the motion to continue. School board president Maria Flores cast the deciding vote.

“It was difficult arriving at this decision, because I know that our students could potentially be directly affected,” Flores told the Sun-News. “But I feel that the community will rally and make sure that our students are protected. I’m hoping that (STS-NM and LCTF) go back to the table, and they take care of it this weekend. That is my greatest hope.”

Attorneys for LCPS Friday filed a notice to withdraw its motion for the temporary restraining order and to vacate the temporary injunction.

Planning for a strike

The earliest a strike could occur would be Monday, officials said.

Jo Galvan, LCPS spokesperson, said immediately upon the school district becoming aware of a strike, parents will be notified as early as possible by several methods. Parents should monitor the school district’s website (www.lcps.k12.nm.us), listen for automated telephone calls in English and Spanish, watch for an announcement on the district’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LCPublicSchools), check e-mails from their child’s school or monitor local news media for additional information.

Rounds said if there is a bus strike, the only children who will be guaranteed transportation are those with special needs, which includes special education and developmentally delayed children.

“STS has committed to have enough drivers or other members of its staff to be able to transport our most fragile children,” Rounds said. “Unfortunately, a strike prevents the company from being able to provide full service for the rest of our school community.”

If a strike occurs, parents will need to drive their child to school, carpool, or consider having their children walk with an adult of their choice. If they need to have a different adult pick up their child at the end of the school day, they should notify the school of the name of the alternate person who will have to present an ID upon arrival for the student, officials said.

“I understand this may create difficulty for some families,” Rounds said. “If we face a bus strike, I need to ask parents to follow the school’s guidance on traffic coming in and out of the parking lots, since we’ll have many more drivers getting children to schools.”

In addition, any child who is late or misses school, and who is a registered bus rider, can bring a note from the parent to have the absence excused, Galvan said. Should a strike occur, field trips or athletic events may have to be cancelled, she said.

Testing for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, begins districtwide on Monday. The testing window runs through April 29. It’s unclear how a prolonged bus strike might impact attendance or the administering of the test.

Labor dispute

After the board meeting, Marcos Torres, president of LCTF, told the Sun-News that the union will continue to abide by the restraining order until the court lifts it, and that he plans on appearing in court Tuesday.

“I feel good about the outcome of today’s meeting,” said Marcos Torres, president of LCTF. “We always put students first, but we’ve been concerned about safety issues for years. In the three years that I’ve been here, I haven’t seen things getting better. We’ll have to see what happens Tuesday.”

Some had questioned LCPS' authority in intervening in the labor dispute.

During public comment at the school board meeting Friday, area political organizer Glenn Landers cautioned the board against imposing public sector restrictions on private sector bus drivers.

On April 1, LCTF announced plans to file an emergency motion to quash the temporary restraining order arguing in part that the state's authority did not supersede the federal National Labor Relations Act, which grants employees the right to strike. On April 5, Judge Martin told parties he would not take up the issue before the previously scheduled April 12 hearing.

On Friday afternoon, American Federation of Teachers of New Mexico and LCTF issued a joint statement, announcing that Martin had accepted the withdrawal, dismissed the complaint, and that the strike was no longer subject to injunction. However, Martin's clerk was out of the office Friday, and the dismissal could not be verified with the court.

“This is a victory for the rights of our members and organized labor across New Mexico. The right to strike over labor disputes is guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act, and we feel that any lawsuit attempting to curtail this right represents a grave injustice to our ability to negotiate safer conditions for our students and better policies for STS-NM employees," the release stated.

Rounds said that if service is disrupted and STS-NM is unable to meet its obligation to provide transportation, the district is prepared to litigate it as a breech of contract.

“If the company is unable to resolve that issue, I will act to terminate the contract,” Rounds told the Sun-News.